Expanding Possibilities 385
of Hainan. The smaller junks from Hainan were estimated at 150 tons
each, making all in all around 80,000 tons.^133
The Canton junk trade continued to operate in the Nanyang in the
1830s and 1840s. In 1835, John Phipps reported the arrival in Canton
of Fujian junks from the Indonesian Archipelago, Cochin China, Siam
and other overseas ports.^134 In his 1837 work another author, Edmund
Roberts, also indicates that “[m]erchandise was brought here [Canton]
from Tongquin [Tonkin],... Cochin China [the southern and central
parts of Vietnam], Camboja, Siam, Malacca, or the Malay peninsula, and
the eastern Archipelago”.^135 In other words, the merchants and factors
in Canton, including those from other provinces, were heavily involved
in the foreign trade.^136 According to a 1838 account, four to βive junks
from Canton made their annual voyages to Tonkin, largely for smuggling,
eight to 12 junks of considerable size set course to Cochin China, 20
to 30 junks to Siam, two to four large junks of 500 to 700 tons each to
Borneo, visited the gold-producing areas in Pontianak, Bandjarmasin and
Sambas, four to six large vessels to Singapore, as well as several junks
headed to Semarang, Riau, Bangka and Palembang. In total, about 40 to
50 junks of 200 to 700 tons each visited these Southeast Asian ports.
The total trading capital probably reached βive million Spanish dollars.^137
Edmund Roberts gives a much higher estimate of around 100 junks going
overseas. Ports visited by these junks included Penang, as well as harbors
in Celebes and the Philippines. He mentions that many junks from Fujian
and other northern ports visited Canton before embarking on their
overseas voyages. Returning from the Nanyang, the junks anchored in
Canton before heading back to their coastal home ports.^138
Whither the Chinese Junk Trade?
State of the Chinese Junk Trade in the Early Years of the
Treaty Port
The Coastal Trade. In the early years of the Treaty Ports, the coastal
trade remained brisk. There was still a large junk trade in Amoy. The
- John Crawfurd’s testimony, 1830, pp. 452‒3, 472.
- John Phipps, Practical Treatise on the China and Eastern Trade, p. li.
- Edmund Roberts, Embassy to the Eastern Courts, p. 118.
- Ibid., p. 121.
- Anon, “A Dissertation upon the Commerce of China”, pp. 34‒7.
- Edmund Roberts, Embassy to the Eastern Courts, pp. 121‒2.